Rendering shows the design of a new clubhouse and pro shop planned for The Links at Overlake in Tooele.
Golf course superintendent Mike Holmes and developer Drew Hall stand near the 9th green at The Links of Overlake. Developers plan to build a $2.5 million clubhouse and pro shop at the course.
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Loading...While work continues on construction of the Deseret Peak Temple in Tooele, one of the temple’s next door neighbors has been busy sprucing up and making improvements to its large acreage immediately northwest of the temple.
With limited play the past two years, the staff at The Links at Overlake has worked hard to improve the condition of the golf course. Currently, the 18-hole golf course is in its best condition ever, according to course developer Drew Hall.
The course eventually will be open to the public, but it’s not quite ready for play yet. Hall has additional plans to build a $2.5 million clubhouse and pro shop in 2023.
“We had pythium in the greens and didn’t feel good about charging players with the bad greens so we decided we needed to do a complete overall of the course itself which we have completed. We’ve never had a proper clubhouse and pro shop so we’ve never been able to do tournaments in the proper way,” Hall said.
With a design for the new clubhouse completed, The Links at Overlake will now take their plans to Tooele City leaders to seek approval to begin construction. Hall said his group would like to have everything completed by the spring of 2024 to coincide with the completion of the Deseret Peak Temple.
“The temple is 240 yards from the tee box on the third hole, so when you play the golf course, the temple looms right over you,” Hall said.
The new clubhouse will be built at a slightly higher elevation than the previous temporary clubhouse to enhance the view of the temple.
“The clubhouse will provide a great view of the temple and a great view of the lake. In addition to handling tournaments it will be a great location for wedding receptions and other events with a view of the temple,” Hall said. Plans include a restaurant for the clubhouse.
This year, only a few players have been able to show off their golf skills on the course.
“While we’re building the clubhouse and pro shop, we may just continue to operate as we have this year as just a private club. We may open the course for public play next year, but haven’t made that decision yet. A lot has to do with the supply chain for building materials; it’s also hard to get carts now, you have to order months in advance,” Hall said.
The course opened for play in 2001 and operated through 2019 as a public course. It has been a private course the past two years.
Plans call for residential development inside the course which is enhanced by the course’s figure-8 design. Plans also call for residential development outside the course in conjunction with Perry Homes Utah.
There are 17 ponds of secondary water owned by Tooele City on the golf course. The Links at Overlake purchases water from two of the ponds to water the course. A pond on the south side is used to water the front nine, and a pond near the Tooele City sewer treatment plant is used to water the back nine.
Mike Holmes is the course superintendent. He said the greens have been renovated, the fairways reseeded, the irrigation system rebuilt along with overall beautification of the course.
He said the limited play has aided in getting the course back in shape.
“The condition of the course is in better condition now than it ever has been,” Holmes said.
“The idea is you can get up and drive to the course and play golf in the morning and attend a temple session in the afternoon,” he said.
“The first step was we wanted to make sure that we get the course back to where we feel it is a quality course, especially the greens,” Hall said. The goal was to improve the course to PGA standards.
“These greens are as good as any greens in northern Utah, they roll great, they’re beautiful. If you talk to anybody, the greens were really good before, but they’re really spectacular right now,” Hall said.
Perry Homes Utah is working on eventually having a road built to allow direct access to the course from state route 36 at about 3000 North, Hall said.
